African Dream

CroisiEurope's African Dream cruise ship (2017-launched) is the company's expansion into the South African river cruising market. The vessel is a houseboat-type riverboat operating on Chobe and Zambezi river cruises leaving roundtrip from Kasane Botswana. Its fleetmate is the newbuild (2020-launched) Zimbabwean Dream.

Another famous African houseboat cruise ship on Chobe River is Zambezi Queen chartered by AMAwaterways).

Cabins

The premium houseboat African Dream has max passenger capacity 18 (plus 16 staff-crew), 3 decks (1 with cabins) and a total of 8 staterooms. Of all cabins, 6x are French Balcony (with floor-ceiling sliding windows opening to a railing) and 2x are Forward-Facing Suites with Balconies. All staterooms are equally-sized (17 m2 / 185 ft2), but the Balcony Suites are with step-out verandas (forward-facing, sized 3,5 m2 / 40 ft2). All cabins are located on Main Deck and feature wall-to-wall windows.

Shipboard facilities

The African Deam ship has a midship staircase that interconnects all decks. All indoor spaces are air-conditioned.

Main Deck (deck 1) is the riverboat's Boarding Deck (with a starboard-midship entrance area) and the fore-located Navigation Bridge (aka Wheelhouse). On Main Deck are also all passenger cabins.

Upper Deck (deck 2) is the riverboat's Lobby Deck housing the Reception Desk and Cruise Director's Office. On Upper Deck are also the Dining Room Restaurant (midship) with an Aft Terrace (outdoor seating / alfresco dining) and the fore-located Bar Lounge. Adjacent to the Restaurant is the Galley (kitchen with drink and food storage rooms)

The midship Sundeck (deck 3) is dubbed "Chobe Space". This is a spacious Terrace (Observation Deck) with shaded seating (large umbrellas and premium garden furniture).

In addition to guests from France, CroisiEurope's African cruises attract international travellers, so all of the ship's crew are bilingual. Onboard announcements and itinerary/tours information are in English. English-speaking local guides lead all shore excursions.

Chobe and Zambezi river cruise itinerary

The CroisiEurope company offers an 8-nights / 9-days African cruise tour itinerary program visiting Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and South Africa. All itineraries start with an overnight Johannesburg hotel stay (in South Africa), followed by a 3-night cruise on Chobe and Zambezi rivers and a 4-night land stay (in lodge accommodation owned by CroisiEurope). African shore excursions program (cruise fare inclusive) includes visits to Victoria Falls, wine estate tour and African jeep safari tour in Chobe National Park (Botswana), home to around 130,000 elephants (nearly 1/4 of Africa's total elephant population).

• CroisiEurope's Chobe River cruise itinerary is themed "Southern Africa: travel to the ends of the earth".
• Itinerary length is 9-days. The itinerary with an extended stay at Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) is 11-nights / 12-days.
• Prices vary between EUR 4000-5000 (pp / 9-day cruisetours) and EUR 6000-6600 (pp / 12-day cruisetours).
• Next is shown CroisiEurope African Dream's river cruise itinerary map.

Follows the list of the cruise itinerary ports of call and land tours:

• Day 1 JOHANNESBURG - meet and greet at the hotel around 12 noon, coach travel towards Soweto, follows lunch before the tour to Freedom Park, next is dinner and overnight 4-star hotel stay.
• Day 2: JOHANNESBURG - KASANE - CRUISING- flight from Johannesburg to Kasane, airport transfer to the cruise ship African Dream, follow welcome cocktail, lunch and cruising along Kasai Channel. Follow the company's private mooring on Chobe River, dinner and overnight on the houseboat.
• Day 3: CRUISING - jeep safari in Chobe National Park, follows onboard lunch and afternoon cruising to Zambezi River (Zambia-Namibia border). In the afternoon there is a small motorboat (water safari) tour for wildlife viewing. Follows onboard dinner and overnight on the houseboat.
• Day 4: CRUISING to Kabulabula. The Chobe National Park cruise experience features unique wildlife (zebras, Cape buffalos, antelopes, various birds). Follows onboard dinner and overnight on the houseboat.
• Day 5: CHOBE RIVER - SEDUDU ISLAND - LODGE - morning disembarkation is followed by water safari (motorboat tour) to watch game animals. Follows "floating restaurant" lunch in the middle of Chobe River (featuring local delicacies), then is the travel to the CroisiEurope's lodge. The travel route includes Sedudu Island and wildlife viewing (hippopotami, water buffalos, crocodiles). After the arrival at the lodge, guests check into their rooms. Follow dinner and overnight at the lodge.
• Day 6: IMPALILA ISLAND - morning departure from the lodge on a tour visiting a local school. Follow the return to the CroisiEurope's lodge for lunch and free time afternoon at the lodge (has a swimming pool). After dinner follows a local storyteller time with region's mysterious legends, and overnight at the lodge.
• Day 7: IMPALILA ISLAND - morning tour to an authentic African / Namibian village. Follow the return to the lodge, lunch, free time afternoon, dinner (served under the stars), overnight at the lodge.
• Day 8: VICTORIA FALLS - coach travel for Victoria Falls, follows lunch cruise, afternoon walking tour to the waterfalls in Zimbabwe. Next, are the "Boma" dinner (with traditional dancing and music performances) and the overnight 4-star hotel stay.
• Day 9: VICTORIA FALLS - Breakfast and hotel check-out. There is an optional helicopter tour to Victoria Falls (in the morning).
• Notes: The order and port/tour times can change depending on the weather. Wildlife viewing in Chobe National Park is not 100% guaranteed. The Victoria Falls helicopter tour also depends on weather conditions.

Note: You can see the CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All companies and their fleets are listed there.